Abstract
As humanitarian emergencies become increasingly prevalent and protracted, the sustainability and quality of humanitarian aid work are threatened by its staff’s unaddressed occupational stress and mental health problems. While there is accumulating research on psychological and stress-related disorders’ prevalence and risk factors, there is less evidence on empirically supported mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions for humanitarian and disaster relief personnel. Existing interventions are primarily reactive rather than preventive, may produce iatrogenic effects, and are poorly implemented. This chapter synthesizes the extant literature and proposes a comprehensive and systematic framework for the promotion of wellbeing, prevention, and management of occupational stress-related mental health and psychosocial problems for this occupational group. Informed by risk and protective factors unique to humanitarian and emergency relief work, the chapter summarizes a broad spectrum of interventions across various deployment and emergency response phases and targeted at the individual staff, managers, team, and organization levels. The chapter recommends organizational-level MHPSS policy and standards of practice; predeployment psychoeducational training; perideployment mental health monitoring and support; manager-specific training; peer support programs; stepped-care crisis intervention and psychological treatment model; and promoting resilience and posttraumatic growth. Specific adaptations for vulnerable demographic groups in this workforce and potential implementation barriers are discussed. The comprehensive, evidence-informed MHPSS intervention framework outlined in this chapter can serve as a blueprint for staff care in humanitarian aid organizations.
